All You Need To Know About Mental Health

Human Beings are the most evolved, intelligent beings with extraordinary capabilities to behave, feel, and think in a wide range without limits, and sometimes even we are unaware of our blessings. What a brilliant advantage we have over all other species existing on this planet, right? 

Something to consider ourselves lucky for, even proud of at times depending on how we use this incredible power of the mind and the brilliant ways in which it serves us making us the supreme species on the planet. But, as we all know the famous saying that stands true in every aspect of life - ‘’With great power comes great responsibility.’’ This is where the triggering question pops up in our heads. 

What if this powerful tool that makes us who we are, decides one day that it is tired of taking these responsibilities, that it needs to change its course of actions, to change its fashion of work all of a sudden so many times without a flash warning or clear signs of concern beforehand? 

Well, that would be disastrous because neither we are in a superhero movie set in a fictional world where our minds will turn us into evil geniuses nor do we as human beings have a perfect understanding of the society around us so that we can mold it as and when we want. 

Thus, the need to be aware of our mind and its problems along with supporting its healthy working and improving the system or functionality of the brain when it decides to go south is extremely significant for every individual with a functional brain and body. Also, read Importance of Mental Health at Work

Mental Health - An Equally Important Aspect As Physical Health

The mind and the body are two very distinct elements yet connected more closely than we realize. The damage to one affects the other; a healthy mind will maintain a healthy body and an upset one will show adversely on the body too. In direct terms, good physical health is something we all desire and the most important way to achieve it is a healthy mind because an unhealthy, depressed mind creates problems not just for the people around but its own body by giving it ailments like heart conditions, stomach issues, diabetes even. 

This relationship between the two is as clear as a crystal. Then why do we fail to acknowledge it? Why do we, the higher species, view physical health as more important than mental health and ridiculously enough even fail to accept the existence of issues with our minds? Well, for one, discrimination. This discrimination is not just the cause of non-acknowledgment of mental issues but also one of the reasons for the mental health problems that individuals face, this feeling of non-acceptance, and the kind of pressure it can put on an individual is something to worry about. 

There are multiple reasons for different types of mental illness or mental stress and it cannot be easily pinpointed in an individual as every individual is different and suffers differently. The multiple reasons for mental illness can vary from biological or genetic reasons for mental stress to social reasons for multiple mental illnesses experienced by a human being. However, there could be more than one or more complex reasons for mental illness ranging from professional to lifestyle reasons causing mental stress to individuals. Also, read 

Reasons For Mental Illness or Mental Stress

• Biological Reasons For Mental Illnesses 

Scientists believe that the biology of the nervous system and the brain is responsible for the issues; genetics and physiology are crucial role players. People with mental illnesses running in families are more susceptible to developing it, which explains the genetic (heredity) part of the reason as for physiology, we have an experimental example: A researcher at Emory University has been able to link a part of the brain known as the Brodmann area 25 to depression. 

He called it the ‘junction box' and found out that it interacts with other areas associated with mood, thinking, and emotions. Mental health awareness experts have also been able to show that deep-brain stimulation of this particular portion can help relieve symptoms of depression in patients.

Infections and brain injury: certain viruses have been associated with mental illnesses like autism, bipolar disorder, and even schizophrenia. Physical damage can be a cause too and damages during early pregnancy stages like lack of oxygen are a potential cause for autism.

Substance Abuse and contact with toxins have also been linked to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

• Environmental Reasons For Mental Illness

We discussed earlier how depression and feelings of non-acceptance by people that might result in low-self esteem can be responsible for stress and mental health issues. These come under environmental causes and so do some more such as emotional traumas like death, divorce, family issues, and changes in life such as moving to a new place or even something as normal as changing schools.

Mental Health Awareness - A Way To Discuss and Tackle Mental Health Issues

Reasons for this mental illness could be many but the mental health issues big or small, could lead to disastrous and unwanted outcomes that can affect an individual majority in all aspects of life. Therefore, we must become aware of the hazardous mental health issues, the cause of multiple mental illnesses, and the stigma around mental health generally as a health concept or an idea. 

After this complete process of professionally fabricating the term “Mental Health” while getting familiar with the nomenclature of different terms used regularly, the next and the most important step is to truly try to understand mental health as a legitimate health issue, support those who need help as there are ample of people suffering from mental health issues resulting from multiple forms of mental illness and mental stress.

The primary concern of mental health awareness advocates in today’s stressful and ignorant world is to accept mental health issues and not only acknowledge the existence of mental illness or mental stress but also be knowledgeable about common mental health facts. The common mental health issues might seem insignificant to you as they are always not very visible in people suffering from mental illness or mental stress but you should know that it affects their personal as well as professional life unsympathetically and also doesn’t spare the lives of people around them. 

Every mental illness has its variety of symptoms and they could be common in some and very different in others. Moreover, people with mental health issues tend to find comfort in the wrong ideas and thus often the cause of these mental health issues becomes the final result. This leads to people suffering from mental illness or mental stress resorting to drug abuse or they might develop other disorders, for instance - the sufferers of mental illness could lose appetite or even have suicidal thoughts in extreme cases. 

Therefore, to be able to help people with mental health issues, we need to properly apprehend the nature of mental health, causes of mental illness or mental stress, and variations in mental health issues and meanwhile, also work on our acceptance of these mental health issues as well the issue within us to make mental health a taboo and our annoying tendency to discriminate between mental health and physical health of an individual.

Key Mental Health Facts To Know 

• Mental, neurological, and substance abuse disorders comprise 10% of the global load of diseases and 30% of the non-fatal disease load.
• Approximately 1 in every 5 children and teens suffer from mental health conditions. That’s concerning!
• Around 5% of adults suffer from depression and sadly that’s only the reported cases.
• 800000 people choose suicide every year, that’s 1 person every 40 seconds making suicide the second highest cause of death in ages between 15 and 29.
• There are a shamefully low number of mental health workers in both high and low-income countries with 2 per 100000 in the latter and 70 per 100000 in the former.
• Most people do not receive treatment for their mental health condition (only 40% do!).
• Treatment for these conditions doesn’t only mean going to a professional, yoga and meditation are therapies too.
• As discussed earlier on how non-acceptance leads to mental issues, the members of the LGBTQIA+ community have twice as many chances of suffering from a mental condition as straight people.
• People experience a crucial percentage of (70-90%) reduction in their symptoms upon treatment
• Despite the presence of mental health issues, many individuals are capable of leading healthy, productive lives.

There may be many obstacles but there are also solutions and resources to provide aid like hospitals, counseling, therapy, medical detox from drugs and so much more are dealt with with maturity and utmost care under campaigns of mental health awareness that work relentlessly to normalize mental illness and the taboo around mental health in general. We just need to look out, acknowledge and accept mental illness like physical illness so that mental health becomes a healthy topic instead of a taboo! Mental Health is as important if not more than physical health.

Realizing how important mental health is, Auric has curated Mind Rejuvenation juice which is made using the goodness of Ayurveda and releases stress and induces calmness. It contains Shankhapushpi which relaxes the mind and gives calmness. It also contains Brahmi which improves focus and concentration. Additionally, it has Gotu Kola which is rich in antioxidants.

Auric Mind Rejuvenation Juice contains no preservatives or added sugar and is low on calories, making it a perfectly healthy and effective juice for rejuvenating your mind. Made with pure herbs, coconut water, and fruit juice, drink 1 bottle daily of this amazing juice for calmness and a sharp mind!

Authored By: Poorvi Chhajer

About the Author: Poorvi is a psychology graduate with a knack for writing and a belief in Ayurveda.